Team Handicap - Round 1
K.G. 'B' 430-424 Queens 'D'

K.G. 'B'
Roger Bielby
Duncan Sibbick
Phil Ware
 
Queens 'D'
Lorainne Mortimer
Celia Hooker
Louis Webb
 
Queens were given a 174 point headstart which still gave them a lot to do against the Div2 leaders who are 53 points above them in the league at the halfway point of the season. This meant they needed to gain 6's and 7's per set, by no means an easy task.
 
Roger started off well giving Lorainne only 23 points and after a shaky start Duncan continued to eat away at the lead against Celia winning 11-9 11-4 11-0 11-8. A superb effort from Basingstoke cadet Louis Webb saw him take the 1st set off the experienced Phil Ware and enough in the remaining 3 sets to score a fantastic 29 points and get his team back on track.
 
A steady performance in the doubles gave kept Queens' hopes alive but the next 2 matches proved to be costly. Duncan played very well to drop only 15 points to Lorainne and Roger stopped Louis at 12.
This meant that now, with a lead of only 37 Queens would have to gain 8s and 9s in the 4 remaining matches.
 
With the pressure on, Celia took control of the game against Phil and shared the sets. Her 39 points to Phil's 38 was a fantastic result for the team who now needed 7s and 8s for victory.
 
Again Louis shone in his match with Duncan taking the 1st set 11-10. Duncan however took the remaining sets comfortably enough to ease the pressure on KG. Phil's 11-3 11-9 11-8 11-7 win over Lorainne in the 9th match set up a tense final match of the evening.
 
With Queens' lead now only 5 points Roger, if he won all 4 sets, needed to beat Celia by two 9's and two 10's for victory. Roger took the first 11-5 but Celia came back to score 9 in the 2nd and an 11-9 win in the 3rd. This meant that to Draw the match and, as the away team, be deemed the winners, Celia needed to win the last set. However Roger saw out the set with a 11-6 win to secure the match and KG'B's place in the 2nd round.
 
With the top 5 "closest losing margin teams also going through, Queens 'D's 6 point loss looks surely to see them through also.
 
 
Duncan was the top player for KG'B' dropping 63 points in the evening and winning a set 11-0
 
Louis Webb was the star for Queens taking sets off 2 of the divisions top players and totally out-performing his handicap of 90.   
 
Report by: Patrick Garlick